With all the interest in knives lately I decided to do a build along. It will be spread out over time to give everyone who wants to try a chance to try the step then ask questions if need be.
When I first started making knives I used a file, sandpaper, and a drill press. Now i've upgraded my equipment to include a 2"x72" belt grinder specifically made for grinding knives. Knifemaking is a part time job to me that I hope to one day make into full time. I'm going to show you how to do with minimal hand tools, but I'm going to cheat and use my grinder.
I'm going to offer suggestions on what steels to use and my opinions and that's exactly what they are opinions. You can ask 4 knifemakers a way to do one thing and get 9 answers, we're an opinionated group of folks .
First off steel selections. Most people I know myself included have tried making knives out of old files, mower blades, planer blades ect. Nothing wrong with that if you know a few things.
1. Heat treat. heat treat is the process where the steel is heated to critical temp which is different for every alloy of steel. Then quenched in something, for most carbon steels it's some type of oil, for most stainless steels it is air. Most not all. That makes the steel as hard as it will get from there it is tempered at say 300 degrees for an hour. This brings the rockwell hardness back down to softer level. In the knife world anywhere from 58 to 64 depending on the steel is desirable. This is the happy medium of easiest to sharpen and holding the edge the longest.
2. Grinding the old files and mower blades and getting them too hot can in fact ruin the temper and heat treat process. So you have a soft steel that doesn't hold an edge well.
3. They are not always a known steel. Even with the same file the batches can be different as to what metal was put into the file. It's just nice buying a piece of steel knowing exactly what it is.
This is a simple explanation. I'm not going to go into it too much further I have spent years reading over the stuff and could go into specifics which would cause you years worth of reading.
For this project we are going to use stainless steel for a couple of reasons.
1. Until I get my heat treat oven built or bought I send my knives off to be professionally heat treated by Paul Bos of Buck knives. Every knife is tested before it leaves his shop for the right hardness. Paul is well known as "The Man" when it comes to heat treating air hardening steels. He does not do oil hardening or what most people know as carbon steels. There several that cross over but you'll have to research that.
2. Unless you are making a presentation grade knife for the most part the knife gets thrown in the sheath and thrown in a drawer until next year. If it was carbon it would most likely rust in the sheath. Stainless can and will rust also but at a much slower pace.
For this exact project I will be using CPM-154 which I really like. Other suggestions are 440C, ats-34 and just CM-154.
Here's a list of suppliers to find stuff using in knifemaking
www.texasknife.com and http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/ who I highly reccomend. There are dozens more but I have used these guys many times.
For the steel I recommend a stainless from the list above in 1/8" thick for an average size hunter. For bolster material the I recommend 416 stainless barstock and 1/8" rod to peen it on. For handles I recommend some sort of wood just cause I like the natural materials. Look through their list and find something you like. Most natural materials need to be stabilized (process where they are put into a vacuumm chamber and resins are pulled through them to help prevent drying out and moving). Now onto the the knife building.
When I first started making knives I used a file, sandpaper, and a drill press. Now i've upgraded my equipment to include a 2"x72" belt grinder specifically made for grinding knives. Knifemaking is a part time job to me that I hope to one day make into full time. I'm going to show you how to do with minimal hand tools, but I'm going to cheat and use my grinder.
I'm going to offer suggestions on what steels to use and my opinions and that's exactly what they are opinions. You can ask 4 knifemakers a way to do one thing and get 9 answers, we're an opinionated group of folks .
First off steel selections. Most people I know myself included have tried making knives out of old files, mower blades, planer blades ect. Nothing wrong with that if you know a few things.
1. Heat treat. heat treat is the process where the steel is heated to critical temp which is different for every alloy of steel. Then quenched in something, for most carbon steels it's some type of oil, for most stainless steels it is air. Most not all. That makes the steel as hard as it will get from there it is tempered at say 300 degrees for an hour. This brings the rockwell hardness back down to softer level. In the knife world anywhere from 58 to 64 depending on the steel is desirable. This is the happy medium of easiest to sharpen and holding the edge the longest.
2. Grinding the old files and mower blades and getting them too hot can in fact ruin the temper and heat treat process. So you have a soft steel that doesn't hold an edge well.
3. They are not always a known steel. Even with the same file the batches can be different as to what metal was put into the file. It's just nice buying a piece of steel knowing exactly what it is.
This is a simple explanation. I'm not going to go into it too much further I have spent years reading over the stuff and could go into specifics which would cause you years worth of reading.
For this project we are going to use stainless steel for a couple of reasons.
1. Until I get my heat treat oven built or bought I send my knives off to be professionally heat treated by Paul Bos of Buck knives. Every knife is tested before it leaves his shop for the right hardness. Paul is well known as "The Man" when it comes to heat treating air hardening steels. He does not do oil hardening or what most people know as carbon steels. There several that cross over but you'll have to research that.
2. Unless you are making a presentation grade knife for the most part the knife gets thrown in the sheath and thrown in a drawer until next year. If it was carbon it would most likely rust in the sheath. Stainless can and will rust also but at a much slower pace.
For this exact project I will be using CPM-154 which I really like. Other suggestions are 440C, ats-34 and just CM-154.
Here's a list of suppliers to find stuff using in knifemaking
www.texasknife.com and http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/ who I highly reccomend. There are dozens more but I have used these guys many times.
For the steel I recommend a stainless from the list above in 1/8" thick for an average size hunter. For bolster material the I recommend 416 stainless barstock and 1/8" rod to peen it on. For handles I recommend some sort of wood just cause I like the natural materials. Look through their list and find something you like. Most natural materials need to be stabilized (process where they are put into a vacuumm chamber and resins are pulled through them to help prevent drying out and moving). Now onto the the knife building.
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